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European Club Rankings After November 2-4 Matches
November 5, 2018European Club Rankings After November 2-4 Matches
The group stage of the Champions League is getting to the business end, and we were led into the latest round by some cracking domestic action.
Arsenal showed they can mix it with the big boys once again with a 1-1 draw against Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain were in record-breaking form in their 2-1 win over Lille and Juventus kept rolling on, triumphing 3-1 against Cagliari.
And they all feature in this week's European Club Rankings, a list of the continent's top teams in order of form and performance at this stage of the season.
You can read the previous set of rankings here.
20-16
20. Ajax (-1)
Ajax were new entries to the list last week, and they retain their place in the rankings courtesy of a 2-0 win over Willem II.
European form is a major driver here, and how the Amsterdammers get on against Benfica on Wednesday will have a big impact on their status.
19. Lyon (-1)
A disappointing draw at home to Bordeaux saw Lyon lose further ground on runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
Les Gones remain unbeaten in Europe and face Hoffenheim on Wednesday knowing a win would go a long way to securing safe passage to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.
18. Roma (-1)
A 1-1 draw at Fiorentina leaves Roma down in ninth in Serie A, 15 points adrift of leaders Juventus.
Their form in Europe is keeping them in the top 20, and they travel to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday looking to reinforce their position in Group G of the Champions League.
17. Lazio (-2)
Ciro Immobile was on target on two occasions as Lazio brushed aside the challenge of SPAL 4-1 to maintain their push for the Champions League places in Serie A.
But the Roman club are fallers this week as the latest rankings take in their 3-0 loss to Inter Milan the previous week.
16. Real Madrid (+4)
Real Madrid are by no means out of the woods, but two wins in a row, against Melilla in the Copa del Rey and over Real Valladolid in the league, lifts them up the rankings.
It’s been a decent start to Santaigo Solari’s tenure as caretaker, and if Real are to challenge for honours that momentum will have to continue.
15-11
15. Tottenham (+1)
Things are not all rosy in the Tottenham garden right now, but they are fighting hard, and that was on show in a 3-2 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Spurs had to survive a late onslaught from Wolves, but goals from Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura and Harry Kane were enough to lift them into the top four in the Premier League.
14. Manchester United (Stay)
For the second weekend in a row, Manchester United were on the right end of a 2-1 win—this time against Bournemouth.
Jose Mourinho's men made hard work of things, after falling behind to a goal from Callum Wilson on 11 minutes.
Anthony Martial's purple patch in front of goal continued—he's now netted in four successive league games—as he drew the Red Devils level on 35 minutes, but the hero for United was Marcus Rashford, who netted his first goal since September in the 90th minute to seal the win.
United are nine points off the lead, but they do at least have some momentum to take to Juventus in the Champions League.
13. Sevilla (Stay)
Sevilla's free-scoring ways have been halted in the last few days, as they followed up a 0-0 draw with Villanovense in the Copa del Rey with an identical result away at Real Sociedad in the league.
Their past exploits are not forgotten, neither is the fact only Barcelona sit above Pablo Machin's side in La Liga.
12. Bayern Munich (-1)
The balance of the football world does not seem quite right, as Bayern Munich continue to do some very un-Bayern Munich-like things.
Four wins on the spin in all competitions had them trending in the right direction following a poor run towards the end of September and beginning of October.
But all the good work was undone as they surrendered a lead at home to Freiburg, earning a point thanks to Lucas Holer's late goal.
11. Atletico Madrid (-1)
Diego Simeone's Atleti fall out of the top 10 after a disappointing draw at Leganes.
Leganes are in the relegation spots and looked primed for the taking when Antoine Griezmann gave Atleti the lead on 69 minutes.
Atleti have been unusually shaky at the back, and Leganes grabbed a point thanks to Guido Carrillo's goal on 82 minutes.
10. Inter Milan (+2)
Juventus are showing no signs of wilting, but Inter Milan look primed to pounce should the league leaders suffer a dip, and a 5-0 win over Genoa was a statement of intent.
Roberto Gagliardini (2), Matteo Politano, Joao Mario and Radja Nainggolan were on target as Inter kept themselves within six points of Juve.
9. Arsenal (Stay)
For too long Arsenal have stood accused of having a soft underbelly, but they've become hard to beat under Unai Emery.
The Gunners could have capitulated after falling behind to Liverpool on Saturday, but they kept fighting and Alexandre Lacazette's excellent finish earned them a 1-1 draw.
In taking a point, Arsenal have won more points (8) from losing positions than any other team in the Premier League this term.
8. Napoli (Stay)
Napoli limbered up for their big clash with PSG in ideal fashion by knocking in five goals against Empoli.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are a relentless attacking force, and they did not look back from the moment Lorenzo Insigne netted the opener on 10 minutes.
The star turn was Dries Mertens with a hat-trick as Napoli kept themselves within six points of Serie A leaders Juventus.
7. Paris Saint-Germain (Stay)
Paris Saint-Germain extended their perfect start to the Ligue 1 season to 12 games, a record in Europe's top five leagues, with their victory over second-placed Lille effectively ending the race for the title.
Goals from Kylian Mbappe and Neymar were enough to secure a 2-1 win and move PSG 11 points clear at the top of the table.
It's easy pickings for PSG on the domestic front, but Thomas Tuchel will be judged on how they get on in Europe, and they face a massive game against Napoli on Tuesday.
6. Liverpool (Stay)
Liverpool lost ground in the Premier League after being pegged back by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
Jurgen Klopp's Reds looked on course for the win when James Milner pounced on a loose ball to beat Bernd Leno, but the Gunners found a deserved equaliser through Alexandre Lacazette.
Klopp's Reds were not at their sizzling best, and surrendering a lead will be frustrating, but they remain firmly in the title mix.
5. Chelsea (Stay)
Maurizio Sarri achieved greats things at Napoli, but he could be on the brink of something better at Chelsea if he can continue to get goals out of Alvaro Morata.
The Spaniard looked low on confidence at the end of last season, but Chelsea persisted and he has rediscovered his scoring form.
Morata was on target twice against Crystal Palace, with the other coming from Pedro in a 3-1 win, as the Blues moved into second in the table.
4. Borussia Dortmund (Stay)
Borussia Dortmund took full advantage of Bayern Munich's slip as a 1-0 win at Wolfsburg moved them four points clear at the summit of the Bundesliga.
The assist for Marco Reus' headed winner—his sixth goal of the season—is credited to Thomas Delaney, but it owed much to Jadon Sancho whose excellent cross into the box crafted the chance.
History suggests Bayern will find form at some stage, but Lucien Favre's Dortmund have a steely resolve about them and could be tough to peg back.
3. Manchester City (Stay)
The Premier League is fortunate to have a goalscorer of the calibre of Sergio Aguero, and Manchester City have been the beneficiaries since 2011.
Against Southampton on Sunday he passed another milestone, this time becoming only the third player—after Wayne Rooney and Thierry Henry—to score 150 Premier League goals for a single club.
It wasn't all about Aguero, though, as Raheem Sterling helped himself to a brace, David Silva found the target and Leroy Sane netted his third goal of the season as Southampton were beaten 6-1.
2. Barcelona (Stay)
It's entertaining being a Barcelona fan right now, although it might not be doing much for the blood pressure.
Second-bottom Rayo Vallecano threatened the shock for long spells of the game as goals from Jose Pozo and Alvaro Garcia cancelled out an early strike from Luis Suarez.
Rayo still held the lead with three minutes left on the clock, but substitute Ousmane Dembele drew Barca level and Suarez grabbed his second of the game to keep Ernesto Valverde's side at the summit of La Liga.
1. Juventus (Stay)
Ten wins from 11 games, 31 points out of a possible 33 and a six-point lead at the top of the Serie A table.
Juventus are powering along, but the worry for the rest of European football is that they're not yet at full tilt.
The Old Lady of Italian football was once again slightly off colour, but such is the quality in the ranks that Cagliari were brushed aside 3-1.
Paulo Dybala netted inside the opening minute to set them on their way, but it was not plain sailing and Joao Pedro silenced the Turin natives by levelling the scores on 36 minutes.
An own goal from Filip Bradaric restored Juventus' lead two minutes later, and the points were sealed by a late strike from Juan Cuadrado.